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Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Hieroglyphs in Memphis with a statue of Ramses II in the background
Criteria	Cultural: i, iii, vi
Reference	86
Inscription	1979 (3rd Session)

Memphis (Template:Lang-ar) was the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.

According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BCE. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and merchandise throughout the ancient kingdom. During its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion.

Memphis was under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen. His great temple, Hout-ka-Ptah (meaning "Castle of the ka of Ptah"), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos) by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt.

The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country itself. Its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economical significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica.

The ruins of the former capital, along with the pyramid complex at Giza, have been preserved as a World Heritage Site since 1979.

Typonomy

Memphis has had several names during its history of almost four millennia. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Inebou-Hedjou, and later, Ineb-Hedj (translated as "the White Walls"), because of its majestic fortifications and crenallations.

Because of its size, the city also came to be known by various other names that were actually the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period, it was known Djed-Sut, which is the name of the pyramid of Teti.

The city was also at one point referred to as Ankh-Tawy (meaning "That which binds the Two Lands"), stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper and Lower Egypt. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1640 BCE), and is frequently found in ancient Egyptian texts. Some scholars maintain that this name was actually that of the western district of the city that lay between the great Temple of Ptah and the necropolis at Saqqara, an area that contained a sacred tree.

At the beginning of the New Kingdom (c. 1550 BCE), the city became known as Men-nefer (meaning "the good place"), which became Menfe in Coptic. The name "Memphis" (Template:Polytonic) is the Greek corruption of this name, which was originally the name of the pyramid of Pepi I, located west of the city.

The Egyptian historian Manetho referred to Memphis as Hi-Ku-P'tah (meaning "Place of the ka of Ptah"), which he approximated in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos), from which derives the Latin AEGYPTVS and the modern English name of Egypt. The term Copt is also believed to be etymologically derived from this name.

In the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph.

Location

The ruins of Memphis are 20 km (12 miles) south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Dahshur, Saqqara, Abusir, Abu Gorab, and Zawyet el'Aryan, south of Cairo, all lie within the administrative borders of historical Memphis (29°50′58.8″N 31°15′15.4″E / 29.849667°N 31.254278°E / 29.849667; 31.254278). The city was also the place that marked the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt. (The 22nd nome of Upper Egypt and 1st nome of Lower Egypt).

History

Memphis (mn nfr) in hieroglyphs

Founding

According to Herodotus, the city was founded around 3100 BC by Menes, who united the two kingdoms of Egypt. It has been theorized that King Menes was possibly a mythical king, similar to Romulus and Remus, the mythical first rulers of Rome. Most likely Egypt became unified through mutual need, developing cultural ties over time and trading partnerships though it is still understood that the first capital of Ancient Egypt was the lower Egyptian city of Memphis. The story most likely just got passed on to Herodotus. However. Egyptologists have also identified the legendary 'Menes' with the historical King Narmer, who is represented in the Palette of Narmer conquering the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt and establishing himself as pharaoh. This Palette has been dated to ca. 31st century BC, and would thus correlate with the story of Egypt's unification by Menes.

Population

Estimates of population size differ widely. According to T. Chandler, Memphis had some 30,000 inhabitants and was by far the largest settlement worldwide from the time of its foundation until around 2250 BC and from 1557 to 1400 BC. K. A. Bard is more cautious and estimates the city's population to have amounted to about 6,000 inhabitants during the Old Kingdom.

Significance

Memphis became the capital of Ancient Egypt for many consecutive dynasties during the Old Kingdom. Memphis reached a peak of prestige under the 6th Dynasty as a centre of the cult of Ptah, the Egyptian god of creation and artworks. The approximately 80-ton alabaster sphinx that guards the Temple of Ptah serves as a memorial of the city's former power and prestige. It declined briefly after the 18th Dynasty with the rise of Thebes and the New Kingdom, and was revived under the Persian satraps before falling firmly into second place following the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire, Alexandria remained the most important city. Memphis remained the second city of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat (or Fostat) in 641. It was then largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements. It was still an imposing set of ruins in the 12th century but soon became little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.

Remains

The remains of the temple of Ptah and of Apis have been uncovered at the site as well as a few statues, including two four-metre ones in alabaster of Ramesses II. The Saqqara necropolis is close to Memphis.

There is now an open-air museum in Memphis. This museum has many Ancient Egyptian statues on display, the most notable one being the 10m (33ft) Colossus of Ramesses II, which is held in a small indoor building on the site.

References

1. Katheryn A. Bard, Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Routledge 1999, p.694
2. Lynn Meskell, Private Life in New Kingdom Egypt, Princeton University Press 2002, p.34
3. Ian Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press 2003, p.279
4. National Geographic Society: Egypt's Nile Valley Suppliment Map, produced by the Cartographic Division.
5. Simson R. Najovits, Egypt, trunk of the tree: a modern survey of an ancient land (Vol. 1-2), Algora Publishing, p171.
6. Bridget McDermott, Decoding Egyptian Hieroglyphs: How to Read the Secret Language of the Pharaohs, Chronicle Books 2001, p.130
7. Herodotus, Euterpe, 2.99.4
8. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt by bill manley (1997)
9. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 1987
10. Katheryn A. Bard, Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, Routledge 1999, p.250
11. National Geographic Society: Egypt's Nile Valley Supplement Map. (Produced by the Cartographic Division)
12. David Roberts, National Geographic: Egypt's Old Kingdom, Vol. 187, No.1, January 1995

Sources

• Baines & Malek Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt, 2000. ISBN 0-8160-4036-2

External links

• On the Memphis Theology
• Memphis site (Windows Live Local)

v t e Memphis and the Memphis pyramid complex
City	Memphis
Abu Rawash	Pyramid of Djedefre Lepsius I Pyramid
Giza	Giza pyramid complex Great Pyramid of Giza Pyramid of Khafre Pyramid of Menkaure Sphinx Pyramid of Khentkaus I
Zawyet el'Aryan	Layer Pyramid Unfinished Northern Pyramid of Zawyet el'Aryan
Abusir	Abu Gorab Pyramid of Userkaf Pyramid of Sahure Pyramid of Neferirkare Pyramid of Neferefre Unfinished Pyramid of Abusir Pyramid of Nyuserre
Saqqara	Step Pyramid Pyramid of Sekhemkhet Headless Pyramid Pyramid of Djedkare Pyramid of Unas Mastabet el-Fara'un Serapeum Pyramid of Teti Pyramid of Khendjer Southern South Saqqara pyramid Imhotep Museum
Dahshur	Bent Pyramid Red Pyramid Black Pyramid Pyramid of Ameny Qemau
Mazghuna	Southern Mazghuna pyramid Northern Mazghuna pyramid
See also	Egyptian pyramid construction techniques Lepsius list of pyramids

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29°50′40.8″N 31°15′3.3″E / 29.844667°N 31.250917°E / 29.844667; 31.250917

• World Heritage Sites in Egypt
• Giza Governorate
• Memphis Necropolis
• Archaeological sites in Egypt
• Cities in Ancient Egypt
• Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC
• Ancient Greek sites in Egypt
• Former settlements in Egypt